US denying visas to Hindu priests

[Guest guest]

Hindu temples and religious groups in the US are \'\'reeling from

visa denials\'\' resulting in shortage of temple priests and stalled

temple construction projects, a Hindu group has said in an affidavit

seeking changes to US immigration rules.In a submission to the

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a legal

team for the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) said Hindu priests, temple

artisans and traditional temple architects are increasingly being

denied the R-1 religious worker visa because of US regulations weighed

in favour of Judeo-Christian terminology.The brief maintains

that defining eligibility for R-1 status using terms such as

\'\'liturgical workers, catechists, cantors, missionaries, and ritual

slaughter supervisors... may potentially serve to discriminate against

those organisations that differ from the practice, structure and

function of the Judeo-Christian guidelines upon which the regulations

are based.\'\'\'\'From what defines a Hindu religious

occupation, to whether a temple shilpi (Hindu temple stone sculptor)

belongs to a particular denomination, the current terminology proposed

by the USCIS is absolutely foreign to the Hindu tradition,\'\' said

Suhag Shukla, the foundations legal counsel.\'\'As religious

worker visas become more difficult to obtain for Hindus, Hindu

Americans must insist that their voice is heard in this process no less

than the fundamental right to a free exercise of religion is at

stake.\'\'

Read more at :

http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/article/anti-hindus-misc/general/us-denies-visas-to-hindu-priests.html